2 Flyers D-men score, Joel Farabee notches a goal and assist in 4-1 win over Canucks
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- A three-goal second period, including scores from two defensemen, lead the Philadelphia Flyers to a 4-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Thursday night.
Egor Zamula, Sean Walker and Joel Farabee scored in the second, and Garnet Hathaway scored in the third period for Philadelphia.
"We just kind of played patient, waited for our opportunities," Farabee said. "You get a couple of quick ones there, it builds that momentum and you just go from there.
Farabee also had an assist in the third for Philadelphia, which broke a two-game losing skid.
Samuel Ersson stopped 18 of 19 shots for the Flyers. Carter Hart replaced Ersson in the third period and was perfect in facing eight shots.
Vancouver dropped to 7-1-2 in its last 10 games. Teddy Blueger scored for the Canucks, and Casey DeSmith stopped 21 shots in his sixth career start against the Flyers.
The team has 49 points on the season, tied with the Golden Knights for best in the Western Conference. The New York Rangers have 49 points and lead the Eastern Conference.
"We're all disappointed in the loss, we've just got to make sure this doesn't fester," Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said.
The Flyers went up to 42 points after the win, just behind the Rangers in the Metropolitan Division.
Zamula opened the scoring 15:03 into the second. He got a power-play goal for his second of the season, converting a wrist shot from just inside the blue line.
Walker made it 2-0 at 16:24. Travis Konecny led a breakout from Philadelphia's own zone, passing to Owen Tippett, who made a cross-ice pass to an open Walker for his fourth goal.
Vancouver defenseman Nikita Zadorov went to lead an attack but was pickpocketed, and Farabee scored his 12th goal at 17:09.
The team posted a photo on Instagram last night showing Tippett was the "Top Dog" in the game. He was wearing a dog mask not unlike those the Eagles wore in their run to Super Bowl LII against the Patriots five years ago.
It's been a common occurrence this year.
The Canucks got on the board 25 seconds into the third. Dakota Joshua drove the puck up the ice and found an open Blueger for his fifth goal of the season.
But Hathaway tacked on a short-handed goal at 5:01 after DeSmith gave up a rebound off the forward's initial shot, allowing Hathaway to finish it off on the second chance.
"We need to realize when games are going to be hard we can't turn pucks over, we can't regress, let's just say that," Canucks defenseman Ian Cole said. "We have to continue to be better. It's a lesson we need to learn."
The Flyers head to Seattle Friday night to take on the Kraken, who have won three straight games.
